is private REALLY better?

[ChuppaChups]

just out of interest, i would appreciate some OPINIONS on this area as i am seriously considering the move to private from state. The main reason being is we are now financially able to do so.

So, is it better and why?

Thanks

But Karise - you didn't just say what you do, did you?

FallenMadonna - it seems to be!

Actually, yes, TFM. I find it difficult to understand why those who can afford have principles against it.

I can see how people like MI want to be able to look down on others, as she described here. But I don't personally identify with it.

Yes! FM
If so, these people should also reject any form of 'private' further education too!

Eh?

Such as...

"For some PS parents, their worst nightmare is that they have actually wasted their money and that the local grammar/comp would have produced the same result."

Lucky them if that is their worst nightmare!

Some good points above by scienceteach and others. For example, I use PS but my DCs have other routes to connect to the wider world including the developing world. Having a economically diverse exposure at school is important but, farnkly, secondary as DCs have that exposure outside school.

So diff folks have diff motivations/uses for PS.

Surely the point is that children should be entitled to a good education whether their parents can afford private or not? And every parent that does go private condones a two-tiered system?

I made a commitment a long time ago to teach in a deprived area and try and support pupils who have very few 'life-chances' without gaining an education. My school is constantly having to justify its exisitence (despite v good Ofsteds) because we don't get a huge % of pupils achieving the 'correct' number of A-Cs - ponders why? Ahhh - perhaps the private and grammar schools have something to do with this?

Do private schools have to report/publish CVA figures, does anybody know?

We all pay uni fees now, what makes private so difficult to comprehend? Anyone prepared to pay uni fees cannot reject private school out of principle!

So in those areas without state grammar schools, the only options are the state comprehensive or a private school. What's a parent to do then? There's no option here. It's the same as if the local schools were all dire, isn't choosing a private school the same as paying for an overpriced house because the school is better or 'attending' a church/changing faith so your child can attend a specific school? Most parents want to work the system to help their child but if you live in an area where the state schools are inadequate then there's no system to work, your options are limited. I think people on here don't realise how lucky they are to have a good, local school that meets their child's needs. Not everyone has this.
Bright children don't do well 'anywhere'. If they attend a school where all they hear is nerd/geek, where they are bullied for wanting to read or because they get top marks in a maths test then they will, eventually, switch off from learning and school then becomes a nightmare rather then a pleasure. As a parent of a 'nerd/geek', I'd rather he was at a school with other children like him so his experience of this is kept to a minimum rather then a norm.

Janeite,

The existence of independent schools is insignificant in terms of the different tiers of education. Ignore independent schols and you will still see plenty of tiers.

If you want to make education equal, tackle the inequalities at state level and leave independents alone.

Don't get rid of the best and hope to improve the whole. That is ludocrous nonsense.

to pay fees at a primary school is your choice. there is no choice but to pay fees at university. one doesn't equate with the other.

Except it isn't necessarily getting rid of 'the best' is it? Which is why I asked about CVA.

FluffyBunny your explanation is fantasic- I couldn't have put it better myself! This is exactly what I was trying to say (badly!)

Unfortunately Karise there isn't an alternative to Uni fees so can hardly be brought into a State v Private debate.

Thanks karise.

janeite,

In my borough, my independent school had the highest CVA scores last year. I don't know what you would want to read into those figures.

ForExample- We have no other choice except a poor education! Should we really sit back and see DD suffer? I would prefer to pay for a good education rather disrupt the whole family by moving to find a good state school!

But state comprehensives have top sets - that's why they are called comprehensives. And you will get called a geek or a nerd if you are in the top set of whatever school you're in - even a private one! Just because a school is private doesn't mean that automatically it's OK to be clever. Yes, mydd is at a grammar school, but even there there is a hierachy of geekdom and nerdiness. And my friend who has a child art Winchester says that cleverness is frowned on by the other kids even there!

Cambridgegirl- it's still paying for education!

You would not be called geek or nerd at my non-selective school. The normal epithet would be 'brainy' - which is fairly positive.

ScienceTeacher - I don't want to read anything other than to say that some will be high and some won't be, in both state and private. My inner-city comp also had one of the highest CVA ratings last year - read what you will into that too!

In our case, CVA translated into A* and A grades.

Surly that depends on the comprehensive seeker? I attended a comprehensive, I was in the top set, as were alot of others who obviously didn't want to be there. How can someone learn in a class where others are shouting/talking over the teacher? Wouldn't it be nice for your child to attend a school where they can sit outside and read a book without sarcastic/nasty comments?

It doesn't matter what it translated into though as it's a measure of average progress. If a child enters secondary at level P6 and leaves with a Grade E that is a better indicator of good teaching/learning than one who enters at L5 and leaves with an A. CVA is only good as a measure if hard results are taken out of it.

FBGB, the scourge of state school education nowadays is 'low level disruption. Schools just won't tackle it, even though it affects the education of those who want to learn. Unless they are wealding knives, it is considered not a problem. And teachers don't want to raise the issue because they appear weak and unable to handle a class.